Time division multiplex exchange

Claim 2

A time division multiplex communication system for exchanging information between any pair of a plurality of system terminals, comprising: a plurality of exchange module means each having a bus line coupled thereto for connecting therewith any of a plurality of associated bus line terminals which are fewer in number than the number of system terminals, each of said exchange module means including bus line input and output means for exchanging information in first order time frames by synchronous time division multiplex between each of the respective said exchange module means and any of the said associated bus line terminals connected thereto, said bus line and output means including means to transmit and receive information to and from connected terminals over time channels in said first order time frames exclusively assigned to that purpose, each of said exchange module means also including storage means coupled to its said bus line input means for receiving information from sending terminals connected thereto and storing said information for readout at a time corresponding to the time assigned to the terminal to receive said stored information; interconnection unit means for interconnection each of said exchange module means with all of the others; each of said exchange module means further including interconnection unit input and output means for exchanging information in second order time frames by synchronous time division multiplex between each of said exchange module means and the others, and interconnection unit input and output means further including selection and control means to cause said information to be exchanged between each of said exchange module means and the others by transmitting said information within time segments of said second order time frames with said time segments being divided into time slots equal in number to the number of exchange module means so that each said exchange module means is assigned an excluSive time slot within each time segment and with said time segments being equal in number to the number of said time channels in said first order time frames, said selection and control means being coupled to said storage means for causing said storage means to read out the appropriate stored information therein during the time slot and time segment respectively assigned to the exchange module means and associated receiving terminal to which said stored information is to be sent.

Claim 3

The system as set forth in claim 1 wherein the said bus line and output means of each of said exchange module means includes means for providing within the first order time frames of each of said exchange module means an asynchronous sub-multiplex channel for the transmission of slowly generated data, with said slowly generated data being sent over said sub-multiplex channel with address indications therewith.

Claim 4

The system as set forth in claim 2 wherein the said interconnection unit input and output means of each of said exchange module means operate to control communication of slowly generated data over said interconnection unit means by assigning the respective time slots within the time segments of the said second order time frames of said interconnection unit means corresponding to the said sub-multiplex channel of the exchange module means to those exchange module means desiring to send slowly generated data, with the said exchange module means desiring to send slowly generated data sending the address of both the appropriate receiving exchange module means and receiving terminal over said sub-multiplex channel along with said slowly generated data.

Claim 5

The system as set forth in claim 3 wherein the first time segment of the said second order time frames of said interconnection unit means is assigned to the said sub-multiplex channel of the exchange module means for transmitting the addresses of the respective receiving exchange module means while the second time segment of the said second order frames of said interconnection unit means is assigned to the said sub-multiplex channel of the exchange module means for transmitting the addresses of the respective receiving terminals associated with said respective receiving exchange module means.

Claim 6

A time division multiplex communication system for exchanging information between any pair of a plurality of system terminals, comprising: a plurality of exchange module means each having a bus line coupled thereto for connecting therewith any of a plurality of associated bus line terminals fewer in number than the number of system terminals, each of said exchange module means including bus line input and output means for exchanging information in first order time frames by time division multiplex between each of the respective said exchange module means and any of the said associated bus line terminals connected thereto, said bus line input and output means including means to transmit and receive information to and from connected terminals over time channels in said first order time frames exclusively assigned to that purpose, each of said exchange module means also including associative storage means coupled to its said bus line input means for receiving information from sending terminals connected thereto and associatively storing said information in accordance with the particular exchange module means and associated receiving terminal to which it is to be sent; interconnection unit means for interconnecting each of said exchange module means with all of the others; each of said exchange module means further including interconnection unit input and output means for exchanging information in second order time frames by time division multiplex between each of said exchange module means and the others, said interconnection unit input and output means further including selection and control means to cause said information to be exchanged between each of said exchange module means and the others by transmitting said infoRmation within time segments of said second order time frames with said time segments being divided into time slots equal in number to the number of exchange module means so that each of said exchange module means is assigned an exclusive time slot within each time segment and with said time segments being equal in number to the number of said time channels in said first order time frames, said selection and control means being coupled to said associative storage means for causing said storage means to read out the appropriate stored information therein during the time slot and time segment respectively assigned to the exchange module means and associated receiving terminal to which said stored information is to be sent.

Claim 7

A time division multiplex communication system for exchanging information between any pair of a plurality of system terminals, comprising: a plurality of exchange module means each having a bus line coupled thereto for connecting therewith any of a plurality of associated bus line terminals fewer in number than the number of system terminals, each of said exchange module means including bus line input and output means for exchanging information in first order time frames by time division multiplex between each of the respective said exchange module means and any of the said associated bus line terminals connected thereto, said bus line input and output means including means to transmit and receive information to and from connected terminals over time channels in said first order time frames exclusively assigned to that purpose, each of said exchange module means also including associative storage means coupled to its said bus line input means for receiving information from sending terminals connected thereto and associatively storing said information in accordance with the particular exchange module means and associated receiving terminal to which it is to be sent; interconnection unit means for interconnecting each of said exchange module means with all of the others; each of said exchange module means further including interconnection unit input and output means for exchanging information in second order time frames by time division multiplex between each of said exchange module means and the others, said interconnection unit input and output means further including selection and control means to cause said information to be exchanged between each of said exchange module means and the others by transmitting said infoRmation within time segments of said second order time frames with said time segments being divided into time slots equal in number to the number of exchange module means so that each of said exchange module means is assigned an exclusive time slot within each time segment and with said time segments being equal in number to the number of said time channels in said first order time frames, said selection and control means being coupled to said associative storage means for causing said storage means to read out the appropriate stored information therein during the time slot and time segment respectively assigned to the exchange module means and associated receiving terminal to which said stored information is to be sent.

Claim 8

A time-division multiplex communications system for communicating data between any of a plurality of terminals which plurality of terminals are divided into a plurality of groups of terminals, the improvement comprising: a plurality of exchange module means corresponding in number to the number of groups of terminals in said plurality of groups of terminals with individual ones of said plurality of exchange module means being respectively coupled by bus line means to all of the terminals within individual ones of said plurality of groups of terminals so that each terminal of said plurality of terminals is associated with an individual exchange module means via its associated bus line means; each of said exchange module means including bus line information exchange and control means for controlling the exchange of the high speed data of terminals connected thereto via its associated bus line means over a first order time-division multiplex system by exclusively assigning time slots to said terminals connected thereto which have said high speed data to be exchanged and for controlling the exchange of the low speed data of terminals connected thereto via said associated bus line means over said first order time-division multiplex system by assigning common time slots to any of said terminals connected thereto which have said low speed data to be exchanged so as to thereby form an asynchronous sub-multiplex channel of said first order time-division multiplex system by the sending of the address indications therewith of terminals connected thereto which have said low speed data to be exchanged; interconnection unit means for coupling each of said exchange module means to one another; and each of said exchange module means further including interconnection unit information exchange and control means for controlling the exchange of information over said interconnection unit means between said exchange module means in a second order time-division multiplex system so as to cause all like time slots of the respective exchange module means in said first order time-division multiplex system to regularly occur in successive time slots in respective time segments of the time frames of said second order time-division multiplex system with the number of segments of each time frame of said second order time-division multiplex system being equal to the number of time slots in the time frames of said first order time-division multiplex system and with the number of time slots in the respective time segments of the time frames of said second order time-division multiplex system being equal to the number of said exchange module means.

Claim 9

A time-division multiplex communications system for communicating data between any of a plurality of terminals which plurality of terminals are divided into a plurality of groups of terminals, the improvement comprising: a plurality of exchange module means corresponding in number to the number of groups of terminals in said plurality of groups of terminals with individual ones of said plurality of exchange module means being respectively coupled by bus line means to all of the terminals within individual ones of said plurality of groups of terminals so that each terminal of said plurality of terminals is associated with an individual exchange module means via its associated bus line means; each of said exchange module means including bus line information exchange and control means for controlling the exchange of the high speed data of terminals connected thereto via its associated bus line means over a first order time-division multiplex system by exclusively assigning time slots to said terminals connected thereto which have said high speed data to be exchanged and for controlling the exchange of the low speed data of terminals connected thereto via said associated bus line means over said first order time-division multiplex system by assigning common time slots to any of said terminals connected thereto which have said low speed data to be exchanged so as to thereby form an asynchronous sub-multiplex channel of said first order time-division multiplex system by the sending of the address indications therewith of terminals connected thereto which have said low speed data to be exchanged; interconnection unit means for coupling each of said exchange module means to one another; and each of said exchange module means further including interconnection unit information exchange and control means for controlling the exchange of information over said interconnection unit means between said exchange module means in a second order time-division multiplex system so as to cause all like time slots of the respective exchange module means in said first order time-division multiplex system to regularly occur in successive time slots in respective time segments of the time frames of said second order time-division multiplex system with the number of segments of each time frame of said second order time-division multiplex system being equal to the number of time slots in the time frames of said first order time-division multiplex system and with the number of time slots in the respective time segments of the time frames of said second order time-division multiplex system being equal to the number of said exchange module means.

Claim 10

The system as set forth in claim 6 wherein each of said exchange module means includes storage means for intermediately storing therein information from sending terminals until the assigned time slot and time segment of the receiving terminal therefor occurs on said interconnection unit means.

Claim 11

A time-division multiplex communications system comprising: a plurality of exchange module means each including bus line input and output means for synchronously controlling the exchange of information between each of said exchange module means and a plurality of terminals associated therewith by exclusively assigning a givEn discrete time channel within first order time-division multiplex time frames to respective terminals connected thereto; a like plurality of bus line means respectively coupled to each of said exchange module means, each of said bus line means being coupled to the said bus line input and output means of each of said exchange module means to thereby permit a plurality of terminals to be coupled thereto; a plurality of terminal means coupled to each of said bus line means for connection to said exchange module means; interconnection unit means coupling said plurality of exchange module means to one another; and each of said plurality of exchange module means further including interconnection unit input and output means for exchanging information between itself and all other exchange module means over said interconnection unit means, said interconnection unit input and output means exchanging information by causing information to be transmitted to receiving exchange module means during time slots of time segments within second order time-division multiplex time frames with the number of said time segments being equal to the number of said time channels in said first order time frames and with the number of said time slots within each of said time segments being equal to the number of said exchange module means so that each of said exchange module means may be exclusively assigned a discrete time slot within each of said time segments for receiving information.

Claim 12

A time-division multiplex communications system comprising: a plurality of exchange module means each including bus line input and output means for synchronously controlling the exchange of information between each of said exchange module means and a plurality of terminals associated therewith by exclusively assigning a givEn discrete time channel within first order time-division multiplex time frames to respective terminals connected thereto; a like plurality of bus line means respectively coupled to each of said exchange module means, each of said bus line means being coupled to the said bus line input and output means of each of said exchange module means to thereby permit a plurality of terminals to be coupled thereto; a plurality of terminal means coupled to each of said bus line means for connection to said exchange module means; interconnection unit means coupling said plurality of exchange module means to one another; and each of said plurality of exchange module means further including interconnection unit input and output means for exchanging information between itself and all other exchange module means over said interconnection unit means, said interconnection unit input and output means exchanging information by causing information to be transmitted to receiving exchange module means during time slots of time segments within second order time-division multiplex time frames with the number of said time segments being equal to the number of said time channels in said first order time frames and with the number of said time slots within each of said time segments being equal to the number of said exchange module means so that each of said exchange module means may be exclusively assigned a discrete time slot within each of said time segments for receiving information.

Claim 13

The system as set forth in claim 8 wherein each of said exchange module means employ an associative store for exchanging information.